The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-24
A FIREMAN'S LIFE.
WORK OF THE MEN WHO FIGHT
FIRES IN CITIES.
The Daily Routine-A Day Drill and
q Night Drill - Mechanical
AppIiances-Quick Time
NIade-The Horses.

The Washington Star, in an article on
the fire department of the National Cap
ital. says: The fireman's life, when he is
not actually engaged in putting out fires,
is not one entirely of Incidence. He has
to be on duty six days out seven, and
when on duty must remain in the engine
house night and day, except during the
brief time allowed him to 60 home for
his meals. At the engine-house he has
something to do besides sitting down.
, There are regular watches, in charge of
the different officers of the company, as
on shipboard. Beside each man has
regular routine of duties. The appar-
atus is kept clean and bright, horses have
! to be cared for, hose has to be swung in
the hosc-towcr, drained, dried, and kept
in good condition, and everything must
he kept spick and span clean. Then
there are drills to 60 through and dis
cipline to be maintained. The drills are
intended to make every man and every
| horse so familiar with his duties that
!! an alarm sounding for fire, the company
| can get out of house to the fire ground
and into action, with the least possible
confusion and waste of time. Each fire.
man has day off during the week, and
is allowed on other days sufficient time
to 90 home to get his meals.
On his "day off, the fireman is expect.
ed to respond to all alarms of fire and
report for duty on the fire ground, in
case of fire, so that he cannot leave the
city. Every year each man has ten days
leave of absence or furlough during
which he is excused from duty of every
kind. The men in each company take
, their turns in furlough, beginning in
July and ending about the 18th of Oc-
tobcr.
| When the chiefs wagon arrived In
| front of truck A house, on North Capt.
! tol street, near G, and the chief and the
reporter alighted: asmall gong was heard
ringing in the house. As the visitors
entered the door the members OF the
company were drawn up in line along
side the truck, the foreman standing In
front. This was, according to the
manual, the proper attitude to assume in
receiving the chief. The chief, as he en-
tered, salutcd the foreman and men and
then, conducting the reporter to the rear
! of the house, gave simple direction,
Foreman, put your men and horses
through the drill," for the horses had
quite as much to do do with it as the
men. The foreman gave no verbal orders.
All he did was to pull bell rope that
rang little gong. First two strokes,
then three, four and five.
At the first stroke the horses were
! freed from their stalls in the rear of the
house and bounded forward with rush
and clatter to their places at the pole,
where the men were already posted,
ready to clasp on the harness. Another
stroke and the men are in their places on
the truck, the lines gathered up in the
hostler's hands and everything ready to
make plunge out into the street. The
horses are champing and trembling, and
it is all that the hostler can do to restrain
them. The gong rings again and the
men quickly dismount and resume their
places in line. This was the "day" drill
and the whole performance occupied only
eight or nine seconds. The first tap of
the gong or the first stroke of the fire
alarm bell releases the horses from their
stalls. A mechanical contrivance, worked
by the same power that strikes the gong,
unbolts the door of the stall and snaps
the halter. The stalls arc so arranged
that the horses stand fronting the street
and the gate or door which is thus auto
matically nnbolted is in front Of the horse.
As soon as the gate flies open the horse
springs out upon the paved floor and
bounds to his place. Over each horses
place at the pole the harness is suspended
by an arrangement of cords, straps aro
pullcys, so adjusted that the harness car
be let down into place and cl&sped
in second. The breeching is rc1
lowered to its place by the men. It's Sc
arranged that when the horses start away
their movement pulls it into place. Thcrt
are other automatic devices to save time.
After the drill the chic; aad the re
porter inspected the house, end tEer
started off, making round Of tue othel
engine houses. At No. s eGg me houst
the men were put through the "nigh'
drill" That is, they werc sent to the
sleeping room upstairs, and had TO de
scend from that before looking up.
This sudden descent is startling to ont
who observes il for the FIRST time Thu
men do not take the stairs to come down
as they have net the ti:le to spare. They
have rapid transit. Two brGzen poles ex
tend from the fioc7 Ct the engine room NJ
through the floor o: the sleeping room
Around the poics in the floor of the sleep
ing room 10 an aperaturc of ample diane
! ter to admit the passage of mans body
When the gong strikes one can see seyera
bodies slide in quick succession dowl
these poles and dart across the floor
shooting down the pole and moving ava.
from il 60 swiftly that one can hardly
distinguish that the forms are the forms
os men until they come to standstill be
side the engine or the hose carriage.
Beside the cngine-room and stalls fol
the horses. some of the engine-house
have sitting-room on the ground floor
There is q court, and probably store
room, fuel-room and forage-room. In;
cellar below is small furnace and steam
boiler, used to keep up steam in tint
engine when it is standing in the house
A low pressure of steam is always KEEP
Oh, so that an engine can be ready TO
work at a moments notice. The hos'
tower runs from the ground floor up t.
the level of the roof, and sometime
higher. There arc pullcys to hois
lengths of hose up to the top, where
row Of large pegs is placed in the wall
Over these pegs the length. of hose arr
hung, so that they drain out and dry
A foreman tries to have always on hanC
Mt least one cylinder of clean and dr..